Pictures
by wisedomsdaughter
Summary: A picture can be used for many things. For laughs, or tears (or blackmail). They use their pictures for remembering. [Now being beta'd by the amazing fantastic Heiwa no Hato! Check out her stories too!]
1. Prologue

**[This is an edit. The sentences are way too long and hopefully this will be a whole lot longer. Because I really did write two pages but on Fanfiction it is a ton shorter.]**

The day had started out beautifully. A light blue sky blanketing the earth, lightly transparent clouds drifting around aimlessly like jellyfish in water, and the rising sun painting its colors across the changing sky, pushing away the gentle beams of starlight and replacing it with its own fiery flames.

The trees swayed in the breeze, their branches dancing along with the wind, little clouds of dust being swept up and blown down the sidewalk, the autumn leaves whistling after them.

In a dorm room, level five, the gentle glow of the moon faded away only to be replaced by the light sunbeams that spread across the room, shining like a spotlight on the bed where an unmoving lump lay.

The lump groaned and rolled over, revealing blonde hair and drowsy gray eyes.

"By the gods, what time is it?" Annabeth moaned, kicking off her blankets and stumbling over to her alarm clock. "Five twenty two? Darn you, Apollo!"

Annabeth had no roommates, due to the fact that she was actually quite unpopular, labeled as the Brain and Nerdy Girl, and it seemed she was the only one who actually studied until eleven o' clock at night, whereas the popular kids had big blow-out parties in their dorms.

The most popular girl in school was coincidentally named Annabelle, and whenever Annabeth walked down the hall she'd make some rude joke about how she looked like a friggin' barn animal wearing a lump of hay on its' head and the ugliest things from a thrift store. But none of that mattered today. Because today – today, today, today – was the last day of school before the weekend. And since she obviously wouldn't fly over to San Fransisco just for a day and then back, she was going to spend it with Percy. For every single one-week-or-less holiday, Percy would come and pick her up, and she'd sleep in the guest room that Paul's apartment could hold.

Annabeth scanned through her clothing choices, trying hard to find something that she deemed "cute". She couldn't seem to find something nice to wear, so she singled out the five things that Percy's eye always twitched at, the three that she decided looked too much like her grandma's clothes, three more that she herself thought ugly, and lay them all on her bed before turning back to her closet. By now the only articles of clothing she had left was a green tank top, five jean shorts, one t-shirt that read "STAND TOO CLOSE AND I'LL PUNCH THE LIGHTS OUT OF YOU", a red Paul-Frank t-shirt and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

"What in Tartarus?" She mumbled. When had all her clothes turn bad? Maybe it _was _time she head out to the mall – or preferably a thrift store. She decided on the tank top and a pair of jean shorts with Converse shoes. The only jewelry she wore was the owl earrings she'd worn that one time to impress Percy; perhaps it would have a better effect this time.

She took two minutes to get out her bag, stuff in the books that she needed to do her homework, Daedelus' laptop, her magic Yankees cap, carefully fold and add in the remaining two pieces of clothing, including three jean shorts, plus an overly large Yankees shirt that Percy had gotten her as a joke.

Heading to the bathroom, she washed her face of her remaining sleepiness, pulled her hair into a neat ponytail, applied _just _a little bit of concealer to the bags under her eyes and slipped back out. She hefted the backpack onto her right shoulder and slipped her mobile phone into her pocket.

She looked at herself in the reflection of the window and self-consciously patted her head, feeling for the bumps of hair she so often had in her ponytails.

"Annabeth Chase, you are definitely crazy." She told herself. "You look totally fine, Percy will say you look beautiful, and you will have a great weekend."

She took a deep breath and turned away from her reflection. She crossed the room and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.

In the whole school there were three levels of dorms; the fifth level, the fourth level, and the third. Annabeth thought that it was stupid planning on the school's part, because the classes were split into two levels each. So if you were going to Mathematics, you'd have to ride the lift to the seventh level and then for English back to the second.

Annabeth clicked the lift button, waiting as the stupid box climbed up to the fifth level agonizingly slowly. Finally it dinged and the doors opened. Annabeth climbed in and pressed the Level One button and thought about…well, stuff. She was always thinking, whether it was philosophy or Camp or architecture, she always had her brain in work mode. Of course, she could never talk about those things with Percy, because though he tried, really tried to listen, he could never understand what she was saying. Eventually his eyes would start drooping and he'd yawn. That was her cue to call him Seaweed Brain and shut up.

Eventually the doors opened again and she stepped out into the lobby. There were two potted plants leaning against the walls netting the lift and half a dozen more scattered around the lobby.

The lobby itself was a bunch of white desks leaning against white walls with white chairs tucked into the desks. The only bits of color (apart from the plants), was the red telephone and the yellow binders on the desks. Annabeth thought that if there were two columns by the door and more color and… any color would be better.

A gust of cool wind blew into the lobby. The receptionist squealed in fright and clamped her hands onto the papers that were threatening to fly off. She cast an angry look at the door and continued her work, hand never leaving the stack of papers.

Annabeth decided to ignore her and left the lobby, standing for a few seconds longer at the door to spite the receptionist.

Outside was a lot louder and chaotic than Annabeth had expected at six a.m. The popular kids were grouped together by the willow trees, handling their iPhones and iPods and iPads; and the nerdy, unpopular kids were clutching their school books by the walls with the peeling paint and dusty surfaces. A maple leaf fluttered down and Annabeth raised a palm to catch it; it landed right in her hand and Annabeth examined the leaf. The spine crept and curled throughout the leaf, the stem bent at an unnatural angle, so she figured that some kid had plucked it off the tree and it had been blown away. She let it fly away again, past the brick walls and into the clouds.

She peeled open her backpack and cracked open Daedelus' laptop, preparing to design a new building.

HI THERE HI THERE HI THERE HI

Unlike his girlfriend, Percy preferred to wake up at, the earliest, six. So his curtains were drawn together tightly, preventing the sunlight to come in, and the door shut. Ever since the war, the demigod dreams had stopped. It probably was only temporary, like everything else in his life, but for now he relished the feeling of being able to actually _sleep_, with no dreams, and wake up without any bags under his eyes.

A knock on the door earned an angry groan from under the covers and the second time Percy rolled out of bed and on to the ground.

"_What_?" He snapped.

The door opened and Sally poked her head in.

"Wake up, you lazy boy," she teased. "You have to go fetch Annabeth, remember?"

Percy groaned. "Give me two minutes to wake up," he promised. "Then I'll get dressed." Without waiting for a response he rolled over onto his side and pulled his blankets from the bed and back on his body.

Sally tut-tuted and left, closing the door behind her and warning about him oversleeping. She was probably right, but anyway…

Percy groaned and flipped back on to his back. He sat up, running a hand through his hair. If he knew his mom at all, she would have woken him up an hour before he had to – with a bottle of cologne in the bathroom.

HI THERE HI THERE HI THERE HI

There was a pile of pictures on his bed. Percy and Annabeth had spent the past two weeks gathering together all the pictures they had of each other, and others about them, with the Aphrodite campers' help, all ready to be photocopied. The two said teens, however, were most definitely not previewing the pictures. Annabeth had unpacked her things in the guest room and was hanging over an architecture book, her laptop next to her, stomach on the bed and bare feet in the air. Percy was obviously bored, playing with her hair, twisting a finger around one of the curls that had come loose from her ponytail. One hand lay on her back, lightly stroking it with two fingers.

"Shouldn't we be looking at these pictures now, Wise Girl?" Percy asked, scooping a few up from the bed and flipping them over.

"Okay, sure. Give me a minute. Let me just finish this," Annabeth replied, holding a finger up, her eyes still glued to the page.

There were a few moments of silence.

"Please?" Percy wheedled.

Annabeth dragged her eyes from the page and stared at Percy. He made a puppy-dog face. Annabeth sighed.

** [1630 words! I am proud. Review!]**


	2. Chapter 1

After they had spread all the pictures out, and arranged them nicely according to the dates on the back, Annabeth picked up the very first one, which was taken just two days after the war, two days after their first kiss.

It was a bit blurred, courtesy of a wobbly Percy, who was taking the picture. It showed a soaking wet Annabeth, a completely dry Percy, and their little lip-lock. Annabeth laughed and blushed when she saw the picture, covering it with her hand and looking away.

"Hey," Percy protested. "I haven't even seen the picture. What happened?"

"Don't you remember? August twenty-first, Central Park," Annabeth hinted. Percy's expression remained blank.

Percy flung a tennis ball up into the air, and then booted it to the ceiling with his knee. Using his palm, he hit the ball and watched it ricochet to the other side of the room, where it smacked against the opposite wall, jostled the doorknob, and fell to the ground with a dull thump.

"Annabeth, I'm bored," Percy whined. He twiddled his thumbs together and looked up with the eyes of a little kid whose mother had gone off to shop and was stuck in a candy shop with no money.

Annabeth, lying on her stomach on Percy's bed with a book cushioned firmly between her elbows barely looked up as she replied, "Are you dying?"

"No."

"Are you in grave danger?"

"Yes?"

"Is the building on fire?"

"No…"

"Then what is it?"

"I'm bored," Percy complained yet again. "Can't we go outside? It's so stuffy here and I'm bored."

"Well, I'm not."

Percy gave her the eyes of a dog that was being kicked and didn't know why.

Annabeth stared at him. He stared back. Annabeth groaned.

"All right, you win. Where are we going?"

Percy whooped in victory and charged out the door, loudly sing-chanting the lyrics of "We Are The Champions".

""Where are we going?" Annabeth shrieked after him. "Where are you going?"

"Come on, Wise Girl!" Was the response, "Get out here and help me!"

"Tartarus," Annabeth swore. She got up wearily and padded to the kitchen, where she spotted Percy, up to his elbows in sandwiches. There was a large, woven picnic basket next to him and a crumpled up red-and-white checkered blanket, so the whole scene looked like a slice out of old American movies. Scanning the kitchen, Annabeth spotted a bunch of open cupboard doors, their contents clattering to the ground one by one.

Ananbeth sighed and held out her hands just in time to catch a glass bottle of pickles. She set it on the kitchen counter and began sorting out the mess she assumed Percy had made.

Percy, meanwhile, was smearing peanut butter on the next slice of bread, humming songs he'd heard from the radio. All right, so he was no cook, but even he knew how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Just as he was about to add a dollop more of PB onto the slice of bread, the knife was snatched out of his hand.

"Wha?" He turned around, confusion evident on his face. The confusion quickly turned into a smirk. What he saw was his girlfriend, right hand first finger balancing the lump of peanut butter, the left hand gripping the knife. Annabeth slowly and deliberately licked the peanut butter, still staring at him. Then she used the knife to point at the stack of peanut butter sandwiches behind Percy and said,

"No. More. Peanut. Butter."

Percy rolled his eyes and let Annabeth make the rest of the sandwiches. "It's Tyson's fault," he claimed.

In a way, it probably was. Whenever he came over for a surprise meal, Sally would dump anything she had cooked and make a mountain of peanut butter sandwiches and the whole family would have to eat it, because…well, no one even remembered how it started.

In about fifteen minutes, the two teens were out the door holding a basket full of sandwiches that Annabeth had made (she flat-out refused to eat the peanut butter sandwiches, saying that she had already eaten enough peanut butter with Tyson and she sure as Tartarus wouldn't eat any more with his step-brother).

In one hand, Percy held the picnic baskets with sandwiches that could match the amount of food Sally had made for half a dozen starving demigods, and in the other he held Annabeth's hand. Together they crossed the road at the zebra crossing, (still holding hands,) and Annabeth scuffed her right sneaker against a patch of grass that had come loose from the side of the side of the pavement. There was dirt scattered about, and a little bit of sand, too, though Annabeth had no idea why there would be sand there.

Percy tugged lightly on her hand, snapping her out of her reverie, before letting go briefly to jump up to the little arch of grass next to the pavement and reached down with a cocky grin on his face as if to say "Why don't I help you out, my dear maiden?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him and, in one bound, leaped right next to where Percy was standing and slapped him upside the head.

"Stupid," she scolded him.

He grinned sheepishly and immediately bowed so low his hair brushed the ground, and Annabeth jumped backwards to avoid getting hit in the stomach with his head.

"Please forgive me," he said in a horrible British accent. Really, Annabeth sometimes thought he was too stupid for his own good. But his stupidity was usually always a corny lovey-dovey thing, and that was partly why she had fallen for him, anyway.

"Oh, get up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth fake groaned. "Come on, I thought we were having a picnic?"

At the word 'picnic', Percy immediately straightened up, clasped her hand in his again, and practically dragged her to wherever he wanted to bring her to.

"Whoa, slow down!" She exclaimed, laughing. A few people stared, but Annabeth ignored them. She was with her Seaweed Brain, they hadn't gotten attacked yet, and they weren't in the middle of saving the world from a deadly apocalypse, so she was contented.

Percy dragged her over to the biggest fountain in Central Park and made an exaggerated motion of sweeping off a part of the fountain and beckoning her to sit down. Suppressing a loud burst of laughter, Annabeth made an exaggerated motion of curtsying with her non-existent skirt and daintily sat down. Percy pulled out the folded red-and-white checkered plastic picnic cloth and set it down where the spray of the fountain wouldn't get it and one by one began unpacking the food they had brought. There was one apple, a block of cheese wrapped in plastic wrap (why?), a gazillion sandwiches, a Greek salad (with extra olives, she noticed), and two juice boxes of apple juice. Percy threw her a sandwich, which flew out of its plastic wrap and landed in her lap, crumbs clinging on to her denim shorts. She shot a look at Percy, who had the same look a baby seal has when it's begging for a raw hunk of meat.

She sighed in despair. "I give up," she proclaimed. How was she supposed to argue with Percy, much less stay mad at him when he wore a look like that, WITH the huge puppy dog eyes?

She picked up her sandwich and dusted the backside off. Thankfully, it wasn't too dirty. Just as she was about to take a bite, the sandwich was completely doused in water. She looked up in surprise and saw Percy. Her eyes narrowed.

He laughed nervously, which quickly changed into a startled shriek when Annabeth tackled him, sending him off the fountain edge and onto the grass.

"SEAWEED BRAIN!" She screeched.

He wriggled out from her grip and just about flew off, his girlfriend hot on his heels. Thinking quick, he flicked a wrist in her direction, sending a stream of water at her. He heard her spluttering behind him, and he cackled evilly.

"Can't catch me!" He yelled. "I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

"I'm going to eat you!" Annabeth yelled. She was catching up to him, because he never was that fast to begin with. She tackled him again, pinning him to the ground, and her dagger was at the back of his throat.

"Say sorry, Percy," she said in a voice the reminded him of his mom. "Say sorry and I won't hurt you."

"Never!" Percy squeaked.

"Never say never."

A spout of water hit Annabeth at the back of her head, and Percy escaped yet again, reaching the picnic basket before Annabeth could get up. Something sharp flew past his head, shearing off a few millimeters of his hair before clunking into the water. Annabeth flung a cupped handful of water at Percy, which hit him, catching him by surprise.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"You have the advantage," Annabeth pointed out. Percy threw a handful of water at her and flung a sandwich after.

Annabeth tossed a handful of olives at Percy and he threw a slice of bread at her. Annabeth squealed as the sticky bread hit her on the face. She threw some water at him, and then grabbed the salad bowl and just threw all its contents at Percy.

"Gah!" Percy used a hand to wipe the salad off his face, but the instant he could see there was a cheese on his balls.

Annabeth shrieked with laughter, but choked when a tomato flew into her mouth. Percy let out a wolf-like howl of humor as Annabeth tried to swallow the tomato in her throat.

A fist of water smacked her in the stomach and the tomato was dislodged. In a few more moments, Annabeth was soaked and covered in food; Percy still dripping water, a light shade of red covering his cheeks, food splattered on his body. Percy took out a camera and held it in a position that would capture both of them and clicked the button.

Sally opened the door, wondering if she would find two blushing teens holding hands, or the two teens still in the middle of a heavy make-out session. Instead, she opened the door to two food covered teens, one dripping wet.

She raised her eyebrows and said: "If you know what's good for you, you'd stay right there as I get you two some towels. What came over you?"

Annabeth gave Percy a pointed look, and her son rubbed his neck sheepishly. Sally sighed and turned to get a few towels – dealing with demigods were never easy.


	3. Chapter 2

**[Hey you guys! I'm **_**finally **_**back again. I wanted to thank all the reviewers for all the reviews, 'cause they mean so much to me! Thank you! Then I wanted to thank the readers, for reading, but even if you guys don't have accounts, you can still write me a nice review, right? :) If I haven't replied to your review, there will be an authors' note down below that hopefully covers everything. You guys ROCK!]**

The two demigods were back again, this time with Sally's famous blue cookies. There was a pile of crumbs on Percy's bed and a smear of blue on the white bedspread, which Annabeth was sure wouldn't come off too easy.

"Fff mungh Affafeff," Percy spewed a few crumbs out and muttered some other incomprehensible words.

Annabeth sighed. "Seaweed Brain, how many times have I told you not to speak with your mouth full? If you want proof, just look at this picture!" Annabeth plucked a picture from the pile and jabbed a finger at it.

This picture showed Percy and Annabeth at a pizza parlor on December the thirteenth.

_"Can we sit here?" Percy asked, pointing at two booth chairs, his right hand linked with Annabeth's left._

_ "No." Annabeth said firmly. "We're sitting here." She pointed at the classic round table at the window with two cushioned chairs opposite each other, which made it look quite romantic._

_ Percy pulled a face. "But sitting at a booth is always more fun," he complained. He gave Annabeth sad puppy eyes and she almost gave in, but shook herself and tugged him in the direction of the table she wanted._

_ "No, we are sitting here." _

_ The waiter holding two menus watched them in amusement as Annabeth dragged the whining Percy to the table, then handed the large menus, giving Percy the your-girlfriend-is-wearing-the-pants-in-this-relationship-isn't-she look that all guys have._

_ "Well, this will be hard to read," Percy mumbled, scratching his head._

_ Annabeth ignored him and continued scanning the menu and muttering to herself, contemplating whether or not to get a Greek salad. She had that problem. Whenever something had the word "Greek" on it, she had the urge to get it, whatever it was, prove to everyone she had relations with the Greeks. It was that pride issue._

_ Percy, however, had no problem choosing what he wanted to eat, but was wondering if he had enough money to pay, because he had known Annabeth long enough to know that she would probably order something just because she liked to see him squirm at the bill._

_ Two minutes later, after Annabeth had decided on pizza, Percy blurted out, "I want Hawaiian."_

_ Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. "Hawaiian? I want the cheese pizza with extra olives."_

_ Percy gaped at her. "I can't eat olives! I get these horrible, horrible rashes."_

_ "You can just take the olives off, you know."_

_ Just before it would become a full-blown argument about selfishness and Percy, the waiter who gave them their menu stopped by their table with a pad and a pen, saying, "May I take your order?"_

_ "No!" Percy blurted out, then glared at Annabeth._

_ The waiter had apparently dealt with these kinds of situations before, because he just smiled and pointed at a special on the menu. "You kids can't decide which pizza to get, right? Well, you can try our 'Double Deluxe' pizza! You can order any two types of pizza and combine them, which also saves you thirty percent more!"_

_ Percy whistled. "You sure memorized everything, dude."_

_ Annabeth reached over and smacked Percy upside the head. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Smiling sweetly at the waiter as if nothing had happened, she managed to order the right pizzas, along with a root beer float for herself and a vanilla milkshake for Percy._

_ "Why didn't I see that sign earlier?" Percy asked, pointing at the colorful sign tacked to the front of the menu._

_ Annabeth laughed at him. "Because you're a Seaweed Brain, Seaweed Brain."_

_ "Oh, right."_

_ She leaned over and gave him a tiny peck on the lips, then pulled away, snickering._

_ "Oh, come on, Wise Girl," Percy groaned, a playful fire lighting up in his eyes. He leaped out of his seat and grab Annabeth's waist, lifting her up like she weighed nothing. She squeaked and curled up her legs to avoid smacking onto the table, arms wrapped around Percy's._

_ "Put me down, Seaweed Brain!" She squealed, thrashing as he dangled her above the table. People looked over and smiled at the odd couple._

_ "Not until you say please, Wise Girl," Percy teased._

_ "Please!"_

_ "Please what?"_

_ "Gods, you are such a Seaweed Brain!"_

_ He dropped her down on to the seat he had occupied, then bounced down next to her, nuzzling at her neck like a horse. She pushed him away, laughing, and he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair._

_ "Your pizza is here, and it's hot," The waiter cautioned, weaving through the tables balancing a pizza on his left palm. He set the steaming pizza down on the table and smirked at the two of them. "Enjoy," he finished, and left, snaking through the tables like before._

_ Percy immediately leaped off of Annabeth and lunged at the pizza. He attacked one slice of Hawaiian, shoving pineapples and ham into his mouth while his girlfriend stared at his antics in disgust._

_ "Ffaht?" Percy questioned, but with his mouth full Annabeth couldn't tell what he was trying to say._

_ "What?"_

_ "Thaff whaff I'm affkingfs," Percy bumbled._

_ Annabeth took out her phone and snapped a picture of a gross looking Percywtih grease smeared all around his mouth, and Annabeth holding up a piece of pizza. She could always use that picture as blackmail._

"Oh, right. That day…maybe we shouldn't use this in the scrapbook," Percy said sheepishly. "That picture makes me look bad."

"All the more reason we should use it," Annabeth replied, and her word was law.

**[Answer: Eight! Everyone who answered, you guys are awesome.**

**Question: What does Poseidon's name mean in Ancient Greek?**

**RIGHT! So sorry I didn't update and stuff…I was busy falling over and stuff. So, reviews!**

**Anonymous Angel – Correct!**

**Guest – Yeah! I just checked the story stats and wrote down everything that was on there.**

**Leorocks5 – Thanks! Makes me happyyyy :) Nah, eight.**

**Wonderstruck Pen – Yes! Correct! Plus bonus points!**

**Wonderstruck Pen – I'm working on it…as you can see, it's not working.**

**AuroxTheLander – Thank you! Yeah, but there were parts that I thought just sounded so corny I couldn't help it…heh.**

**Captainforkz – I know, right?! It's crazy but awesome!**

**Smileyvanilla – Yeah…whoops.**

**Ilovepercyjacksonsomuch – Thanks! Yes, correct! Where did you read that? Aww, thank you! That was the nicest review I've gotten. :)**

**allen r – I try! Thank you!**

**DeathlyHallowsschoolgirl – That is true, the other half is your soulmate. I'm writing a story about that, but it's posted on MissLiterati.**

**Captainforkz – Thanks! I am a horrible updater…sigh.]**


	4. Chapter 3

**[You know the feeling when you're so excited about something, that you actually choke and nearly die? Well, that happened to me. I fell off my bed, still choking, with a huge, ridiculous smile on my face. You know why? BECAUSE I WAS CHECKING MY EMAIL! I saw all the epic responses for this story and I was SO happy! Thank you!]**

"You know, this isn't the first bad and dangerous idea you've had," Annabeth snapped.

Percy grinned like Charon (and she'd seen enough of him to know what he looked like,) and said, "Aw, come on, Annabeth. It's not _that _bad, is it?"

She glared at him.

"Okay, okay, so baking is not my strongest point, and true, I almost burned down the building, but how is this not the first time I had a bad and dangerous idea? I don't remember any other time we both could've died."

"Not only _us_, but you got _Thalia _dragged into it too," Annabeth clarified. She reached into her jeans pocket, wiping the cookie batter on to Percy's ridiculous flower apron, and pulled out a picture of Percy, a sheepish grin on his face, Thalia's spear at his chest and Annabeth's dagger at his throat.

_ Annabeth knew it was a bad idea. Going to Percy's (first) swimming competition with Thalia, of all people, therefore attracting the attention of any monster within five miles, and breaking about five of Camp's rules, forbidding that any demigod not be in easy target (and Percy's school's swimming pool, during a big swimming competition, was too easy)._

_ But Percy had begged, and being the amazing, supportive (not to mention humble) girlfriend she was, she sighed and agreed. Which was why she and Thalia were currently sitting outside the school along with about fifteen other schools._

_ "It is so hot," Thalia complained._

_ "Good for you," Annabeth replied, twiddling her thumbs and tapping her feet._

_ "You're just like a Chihuahua." Thalia remarked, scanning the sea of students for something suspicious._

_ "What?"_

_ About five long, hot minutes, a teacher emerged from the big plastic red doors located at the front of the building announcing that everyone move to the back of the school, where the pool sat._

_ "Why didn't the dude just let us wait _there_,_ _then?" Thalia grumbled. Annabeth nudged her with her shoulder and shoved her way through the crowd. She heard Thalia cursing wildly as she followed, and eventually they wound up at the edge of the pool, shoulder to shoulder. Annabeth glanced at a blonde bimbo with a XS shirt that clung to all her curves and had "GO PERCY!" printed on it._

_ It took a few more minutes before the swimmers finally came out, the first one with huge muscles like _Beckendorf_, and the others mostly sleek like seals. Percy came out last, and like the others, clad in swimming trunks with a towel slung over his shoulder. He grinned and waved at Annabeth, pointed a finger gun at Thalia, and bowed dramatically to a few wildly screaming girls. Annabeth couldn't blame them; four years of training at Camp had given him muscles to die for, and...sorry. Getting off track._

_ The swimmers all lined up at the edge of the swimming pool, getting in the diving poition. Student representatives from the school cheered and hooted (of squealed and shrieked, depending)._

_ The referee shot the bullet and Annabeth realized she had missed the "one, two, three, GO!" part. The swimmers immediately dived into the water, the buff dude making a tidal wave that drenched a few unsuspecting females, who didn't see to care that they were all wet. Percy was clearly taking the lead, and if she looked really closely, it looked like the water was pushing him forwards, just a little. She looked at Thalia, pointed at the water, and Thalia rolled her eyes._

_ Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw the blonde bimbo thrusting out her chest, shaking her hips, and shaking her hands up in the air like she was holding invisible pom-poms (not like she cared)._

_ Thalia shoved Annabeth and pointed at the other end of the pool, just as Percy touched the end. The crowd went wild, including Annabeth and Thalia. "PERCY!" Annabeth cheered, following the crowd's chants. She didn't even know what she was saying, but it was like there was some force that swept everyone along in the spur of the moment._

_ Percy jumped on to the bank victoriously, waving at his fans with a big grin on his face and his teammates carried him on their shoulders, cheering. Annabeth noticed Blondie making her way over to Percy, and she in turn grabbed Thalia's wrist and tugged her forward._

_ They managed to snag Percy before he was swept up again, and they both congratulated Percy. He was all wet and when he hugged them both they got pretty damp, too, but Annabeth didn't care, and Thalia didn't seem to either. Then the crowd was upon them again, forcing them to the other side of the pool._

_ "What in the Underworld," Thalia snarled. "I would blast them to pieces if I could!"_

_ "Watch your temper and I'll reward you brownie points," Annabeth joked, smirking at Thalia's disgruntled glance._

_ Eventually, the other schools went home, the Goode High students left, and Annabeth found herself walking on the road to Percy's house, hand-in-hand with said boy, who had an arm slung over Thalia, who was warning him that this was the one time she would let him do that without immediate death._

_ Then, just as they passed an alley, Blondie popped her head out, (thoroughly freaking them out,) and said as sweetly as a cobra, "Hey, can I talk to you guys?" before slipping back into the alley._

_ Annabeth looked at him._

_ "She's just a classmate, no harm, right?" Percy tried._

_ Annabeth looked at him._

_ He looked at her._

_ They looked at Thalia._

_ "Ugh, whatever, we can take on one monster."_

_ Which was why, forty-five seconds later, where Blondie proceeded to turn into a monster and call on her monster army, Annabeth had her dagger out, Percy Riptide, and Thalia Aegis and her spear._

_ It took them around thirty minutes to wipe out the monster army with not too many wounds, except for a few scratches._

_ And in the course of two seconds, Percy discovered how fast he could run with furious girls on his tail, and how quickly his mom could use the camera._

_ Click, and out came a photo._

** [Hope you guys enjoyed! I had fun writing it. Okay, now PLEASE READ THIS.**

**I NEED HELP! I need more ideas for the pictures, because I do have a few more chapters planned, but I don't really know the level of corny-ness. So please, send me your ideas so that I can continue this story! I will try to use all the suggestions, and I aim for one hundred chapters. PLEASE SEND IN IDEAS!**

**Answer: Poseidon's name means "husband", congrats to all who guessed it! Now a shout-out to:**

**Daughter-of-Athena-603342**

**IamTiffanyDaughterofHermes**

**olympusgirl12**

** .16**

**The1andOnlyWiseGirl**

**I don't want to be an author who begs for reviews, but please? I try to keep people happy, so anything that you fin could be changed, or updated, please tell me. Thanks!**

**P.S. remember, I can't post a good chapter if you guys don't give me ideas.**

**P.P.S. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! TWENTY ALREADY! OMGS!]**


	5. Chapter 4

**[I am trying to update twice today, because, my awesome readers and reviewers, you deserve it. But everyone knows this will be posted, like, a week later…]**

"Are you even _trying_?" Annabeth complained.

"Um…"

Annabeth groaned. "It's really not that hard, Percy. All you have to do to find _x _is add four and times it by seven, then divide it by thirteen."

"But _why_? Can't we just…preview those pictures?" Percy scratched his head yet again and slumped down until his forehead touched the table. "It's not simple," he complained. "Why do we even need algebra?"

Annabeth's eyes glazed over. "Algebra…algebra is like magic!"

"Urk," was Percy's response.

To that, Annabeth slapped a picture on the table. It featured she and Percy, in almost the same position as before, but Annabeth was clearly taking the picture, and Percy was clearly trying to avoid being in it.

_"I'd rather fight Kronos' army ten times over by myself than do this question," Percy swore._

_ "Uh huh. Cool. Now back to the question." Annabeth placed a hand on Percy's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "But this time, actually _think _about the question. Okay?"_

_ "Uh, maybe?"_

_ Annabeth, being Wise Girl, ignored that last comment and chose to interpret it as 'Yes, definitely!'_

_ "Good," Annabeth praised. "Now, Percy, think of the question like this: if it was Valentine's Day, and you wanted to buy me five roses, and each one costs an unknown amount of money, but you have twenty dollars, how much does one rose cost?"_

_ "Unrh…"_

_ Annabeth sighed. "Five X equals to twenty, Seaweed Brain. Twenty divided by five is four. That means each rose is four dollars. This is first grade stuff!"_

_ "I'm dyslexic, Annabeth. And I have ADHD. I can't concentrate when it's a bright and sunny day outside!"_

_ Annabeth's irritated expression softened. "Let's take a break, Percy. Okay?"_

_ Percy immediately pulled her down for a peck on the lips (that quickly progressed to something else). Sally and Paul had gone out to the bookstore, once Sally had heard about her book being one of the bestsellers. She had been ecstatic, and Paul had dragged her to the nearest bookstore to see if that were true. If it were true, Percy knew that his mom and Paul would be celebrating, lost in the moment. He was so happy for her._

_ "What are you thinking about?" Annabeth breathed. Their noses were touching, and Annabeth's hair hung in a curtain around them, and when Percy breathed, he could smell her lemon shampoo._

_ "My mom's book. Paul. My mom."_

_ Annabeth leaned backwards, and Percy immediately missed her warmth. A grin curled on Annabeth's face, and Annabeth combed four fingers through her hair._

_ "I'm so happy for her. She totally deserves it."_

_ "She does."_

** [Okay, that's it. I have a writer's block. Somebody help me with this chapter. I don't know where it's going, or what it's doing. It's short with a potential ending, but literally nothing has happened. Nothing WILL happen. Anyone who has ideas with where this chapter can go, please put it in your review? Yeah, I know, I suck.]**


	6. Chapter 5

** [I actually wrote this yesterday, but I got on to Fanfiction MOBILE, so I couldn't post it. I'm not very bright. Anyways, merry late Christmas! (And happy 25****th**** for those who don't celebrate Christmas). This will be a little different from the other chapters.**

**RotG fans, review and tell me the little Frostiness! Ha!]**

The doorbell rang once, making a shrill _ding! _echo through the flat. Percy wiped his hands on his apron and his mom tut tut-ed at him, smiling as she guessed who would be at the door.

"Coming!" Percy called, hurriedly ripping off his apron and stuffing it behind the garbage can. The blue ivy patterns on the apron sometimes looked like frost on the window pane, sometimes looked like the glint of sunlight on smooth ice.

Percy pulled open the door and there stood Annabeth, skin glowing from the cold, blond hair curled around her shoulders, woolen hat perched on her head, just covering the tips of her ears, scarf wound around her neck, thick coat on her arms. There was a light dusting on snow on her shoulders, like someone had sprinkled freshly fallen snow on her. Annabeth threw her arms around Percy and kissed him; a hello kiss.

"Matthew and Bobby wanted to go build a snowman," Annabeth explained, pointing to the dusting of snow on her shoulders. "So we all went out, and a snowball from the direction of the twins just hit me in the face."

Sally laughed, in the kitchen, setting the kitchen timer.

"Matthew and Bobby swore it wasn't them, but you just can't be sure with kids. They said it was Jack Frost, swore that they saw him, but what are the chances?" She unwound the scarf from her neck and removed her hat, stepping forwards to close the door. Percy took her various pieces of winter clothing and hung them up as Annabeth went to go greet his mom and Paul.

It had taken some convincing – and a letter from Sally – to convince the school board to let Annabeth stay two days at Percy's house, but eventually they realized that Annabeth would probably be the only one left in the boarding school, as the other students and staff wanted to spend time with their family. So they had sent back an email, that yes, Annabeth could stay with them, but she could not be late for school, and if she was distracted, then that would be the _last time_. They had never sent that email to the other students, so Percy thought it was plenty stupid. And anyway, Annabeth _always _paid attention in class. It would take a lot to make her unfocused.

When they heard that Annabeth would be able to spend Christmas with them, Sally had gotten Paul, no, _forced_ Paul, to buy a Christmas tree, and ordered Percy to get Annabeth the best Christmas present for all of them and gave him her American Express card, but warned him that if he bought something more expensive than fifty dollars, she would take away his cookies. She had spent a day cooking a preparing food, baking desserts they wouldn't finish, made about ten servings of food, spun around in the kitchen like a whirlwind.

Sally had fretted about the food, saying that perhaps they could order the Christmas special pizza instead, but Annabeth assured Sally that her food was better than a lousy pizza. So Percy and Paul had brought out the enormous amount of food; a large, fat turkey **(I'm sorry, I don't have Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, so I have no idea)**,mashed potatoes to serve an army, soft peas boiled to get just the right texture, sweet baby carrots and corn kernels brushed with butter, plus a classic American pie with a generous amount of whipped cream served with each slice. Sally had decided to give up the "blue food" thing, because Paul believed her about Poseidon, except for the waffles (and pancakes, and cookies).

They ate heartily, attacking the food like a pack of hyenas upon a dead elephant. Annabeth laughed and talked with Percy's family like a close friend would, but Annabeth _was _a close friend, almost like a daughter to Sally. She complimented Paul's new tie, Sally's always-delicious food, and the new lamp Percy had bought (that coincidentally had a trident print on it).

After everything was eaten, and Percy saying that he couldn't eat a crumb more, they blindfolded Annabeth and brought her into the living room. There they unveiled Annabeth and showed her the Christmas tree they had gotten especially for her, and she almost cried, huge grey eyes filled with joyful tears. Then the three brought out the ornaments Percy had gotten, and as Percy stepped backwards to admire the tree, hetripped on a cable for the Christmas lights, which made everyone laugh, Percy to blush, and Annabeth to throw her arms around him and kiss him on the lips, which made everything worth it, just for that one kiss.

They spent two hours unpacking all the ornaments, and hang up the various ball ornaments featuring Santa, Rudolph, Santa's sleigh, a snow globe, snow falling on a pine tree, and so on and so forth. Sally and Annabeth wrapped the Christmas lights Percy had tripped on in a way only females can, and Percy took that chance to slip the presents under the tree. Paul lit up the fireplace, turned out the lights, and everyone admired the way the flames made the ornaments shine. Though it was freezing outside, Percy insisted that without ice cream, Christmas would not be complete. So he scooped out four bowls of ice cream for the four of them. As he put the ice cream back in the freezer, he noticed frost creeping up with window pane at a steady pace, and Percy thought it might be Khione's work. He made his way over to the window, listening to Annabeth's ridiculous version of "Frosty the Snowman", when he spotted a boy, eighteen by the looks of it, sitting on the fire escape and staring longingly at the bright lights of Percy's flat.

But Percy figured he must have been seeing things, because the boy jumped down from the fire escape and swooped up again, laughing in a way that made Percy feel an unexplainable feeling of happiness. He was gone in a heartbeat, snow fluttering after him, frost freezing the windows he passed.

Sally scolded him playfully about the ice cream, but they all devoured it, complaining all the while about how it froze their tongues to the roofs of their mouths and making silly imitations of singers voices.

Picture books were brought out, Sally explaining every baby picture of Percy, making Annabeth double over in laughter and even Paul to guffaw out loud. Percy pouted like in his first baby picture, and Sally took a "comparing picture" of Percy next to his baby picture.

Annabeth told stories of her doing stupid things, and Sally remarked that she wasn't unlike Percy, which made Paul say that they were "soul mates". Annabeth and Percy both blushed, but Sally laughed at their expressions and told Annabeth that there was a litter "surprise" under the Christmas tree. Annabeth's jaw dropped in a way that was very unlike Annabeth and began protesting that they didn't _need _to get her a Christmas present, she didn't get _them _one, but in the end she opened up all of them and really cried.

Sally rushed to get a camera and then they all took a picture together. _Click!_


	7. Chapter 6

It wasn't snowing.

December thirteenth, just a few mere weeks from Christmas, and it didn't appear that they would have a white Christmas. Okay, sure, Christmas _was _a few weeks away, but still. It was baking hot.

Steam rose from the sidewalks. Eggs got half-cooked if you left them outside, and ice cream melted within a few minutes of being exposed to the outdoor heat. Annabeth and her gal pals had gone out to the mall around the first weeks of October to buy winter clothes, and Annabeth had gotten a big winter jacket that fit snugly around her, close enough to contain the heat, (and show off a few of her best assets, too) but not too tight that it would be considered a sexy 'dress'.

Annabeth sighed in discontentment. What would she need a winter jacket for now? It was freakishly hot, a heat wave possibly, and even if it wasn't, she had a closet of winter clothes. If it didn't snow soon, or at least get cooler, she was going to kill her 'gal pals'. They were the ones to drag her out to the mall, somewhere she _didn't _want to go in the first place, and gotten her to spend money on a bunch of winter clothes they thought would look good on her. She hadn't even tried them on, yet she had bought them. She was totally going to kill the Aphrodite kids.

She groaned and let her head fall into her arms that were resting on the windowsill. She had hoped that if she stared at the smoking pavement long enough, then it would start to snow. It hadn't, and all she had achieved was a whole bucket of sweat, and a bunch of really odd looks. Annabeth peeled the red rubber band from her wrist and flipped her sweat-drenched hair in to a messy bun, before slamming the window shut and drawing the curtains. She pulled her long sleeved shirt over her head and swapped it for a clean cotton t-shirt.

She was in her dorm room, the other rooms beside her quiet as well. Now, at the time that the popular kids would have been out partying like crazy, and she studying, everyone stayed in tank tops and short shorts, drinking ice-cold soda and eating a mad amount of ice cream.

Oh, she had tried studying. But when she cracked open the books that she usually went glassy-eyed over, her mind simply drifted to the strands of hair sticking to the back of her neck and the hot stickiness dripping down her body.

Annabeth wiped her forehead again and decided that it really was pointless to stay in her hot, humid room, and that if anything could take her mind off of the heat, it was her adorable boyfriend.

She retied her hair and wiped away as much sweat she could. She adjusted her t-shirt, and kicked off her smelly trainers, instead grabbing a more practical pair of blue flip-flops. Tucking her mobile phone into her pocket, she headed out, trying to fight off the heat that enveloped her like an extremely warm unwanted blanket.

There was no one outside. It was like a ghost town. A plastic bag fluttered in the light wind before settling down again on a bench. Annabeth shivered, and it wasn't because she suddenly felt cold. It was like she could feel people's eyes on her, but whenever she turned around, there was no one there. She set her pace faster, which was now a brisk walk.

She laid a hand on her dagger. Ever since the mall, she had gotten a cool belt, possibly meant for a gun user, and wore it on every pair of pants she put on. Her dagger, in its sheath, fit snugly into the gun holster, so whenever she was in deep poo, she could just take out her dagger with no problem.

Annabeth made a right turn and found herself in an unfamiliar alley. She frowned, confused. Percy's apartment was supposed to be here, right? Why was it a dead end? Which part had she gone wrong?

Before she could even address those questions, she felt on of those phantom breaths on her neck. She pulled out her dagger and spun around, pointing it at where she assumed the neck of her assaulter was. She was wrong.

A sharp intake of breath came from the blond. Towering in front of her was the largest beast she had ever seen. It was hideous, and Annabeth found she couldn't even describe the beast; every time she tried to look at it her eyes began watering and she had to turn away.

She fell into a hunter's crouch, dagger pointed at a forty-five degree angle; feet splayed outwards, with her hands balled into two fists. She knew she couldn't defeat a ten-feet tall monster by herself, but she just hoped that she could buy some time and escape – maybe reach Camp Half-Blood to get a group of demigods and kill it. Whatever it was.

The monster seemed mostly hungry; like the way a hungry cat might look at a mouse: after all, the most fun was in the chase.

Annabeth stabbed the monster in the foot. It let out a deafening roar, before kicking its huge leg – that had Annabeth and her dagger attached to it, by the way, –through the alley wall.

Annabeth hadn't been expecting that. Her plan was to stab it in the foot, then charge through its legs and run off towards Camp Half-Blood. That apparently didn't work. She could see that now as she felt bricks clatter on her skin, feeling the sharp pain as her skin tore apart and blood trickled out from her wounds. Suddenly, there was no sound; it was like everything had been put on mute. She saw how the beast's mouth moved as he bellowed undistinguishable words. Now, she felt no pain, only saw how it _should _have hurt. She blinked, and found herself struggling to open her eyes again.

Feeling utterly exhausted, she gave in the urge to close her eyes, just as she heard a patter of footsteps.


End file.
